Vindictiveness in the workplace

An interesting contradiction between John’s story of 6th February about an Austrian company making workers who take fag breaks stay late, and one about Edinburgh’s Standard Life banning people from using electronic cigarettes at their desks (despite the fact that they emit no smoke or smell).

The Austrian one will make workers take fewer breaks, while the Scottish one will presumably encourage more people to bunk off.

The link is the pure vindictiveness of both moves. Fag breaks in themselves aren’t the problem, as Standard Life implicitly admits. Most workers take little breaks throughout the working day, to look at the internet or gossip abut the weekend. Within reason the odd cigarette break is a normal part of that.

So what we’re seeing is attempts to draw negative attention to the act of smoking itself, making smokers feel bad about themselves. Since it’s nothing to do with work, this is just bullying. Luckily, as The Scotman article make clear, Standard Life at least got the brickbats it deserves, from doctors as well as journalists.